Zimbabwe: Reserve Bank Introduces New 'RTGS' Currency

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr John Mangudya, right, exchanges notes with University of Zimbabwe Professor Ashok Chakravarti at the presentation of the Monetary Policy Statement in Harare.
21 February 2019

Zimbabwe will now allow its surrogate currency, bond notes, and electronic funds to float freely against other major currencies, the Associated Press reports in an article carried in New Zimbabwe.

The report notes that the country has not had a local currency since 2009 when it abandoned the Zimbabwe dollar due to hyperinflation. To curb the inflation, Zimbabwe adopted a multi-currency system dominated by the US dollar.

On Wednesday, the government announced measures to address the currency crisis. In a monetary policy statement, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya announced that banks can now offer market-determined rates to buy cash dollars with the bond notes or through electronic transfers.

Bond notes and electronic funds will be called Real Time Gross Transfer dollars, or RTGS dollars, Mangudya said.

TimesLive calls the RTGS dollars a new currency.

There had been speculation over the last two weeks that the country would launch a new currency. Former finance minister and opposition politician claimed on Twitter that the government was finalising the launch of a new currency.

AllAfrica publishes around 500 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.